July 30 marks the start of The Imagine Sisters Movement’s “33 Days for Vocations” funding campaign, as they make the transition from a completely volunteer-run Web initiative to a movement with one to three full-time employees, an actual office space, and more resources for youth ministers, parents and others.

The Imagine Sisters Movement was founded in 2012 by two young laywomen with the goal of helping other young women “imagine” the life of a Catholic religious sister — thus making it easier for them to discern if they might be called to consecrated religious life.

Since its humble beginnings as the work of unpaid volunteers, the movement has grown to include a website, an interactive forum and a strong social media presence, which boasts more than 33,000 followers on Facebook.

Now, as Pope Francis has declared 2015 to be the “Year of Consecrated Life,” the movement is looking to expand the impact they are able to make, and are asking for donations to do so.

From its beginning, Imagine Sisters has been run by a small team of volunteers with very minimal funding. Now, with conviction in our hearts, we desire to bring the Movement to the next level. It seems fitting, in preparation for the Year of Consecrated Life, that the Movement is asking for your help!”

“Young women need to know that this vocation is an option for them — that God could indeed be calling them — and parents and friends need to know how to support these women in their discernment,” their funding website says.

Imagine Sisters highlights the lives of sisters and nuns throughout the United States, and shares the inspiring and heroic “yes” they give to God and their vocation. Moreover, the movement aims — through the use of high-quality photos and graphics — to show the joy that comes with devoting one’s life to God.

As it says on the Imagine Sisters website: “Have you ever met a religious sister? They tend to be the happiest women on Earth. They pray, they sacrifice their lives in love and service to those in need, they live in community — and in many ways they’re just like you!”

In 2013, Imagine Sisters partnered with Lighthouse Catholic Media to produce a feature-length film about the beauty of consecrated life. The film, "Light of Love," interviews five sisters from five different orders across the United States, placing viewers “face to face” with the lives of women in religious orders and giving a glimpse into what actually practicing that vocation looks like day-to-day.

The film addresses questions such as, “what does it mean to be called?” and “what are the struggles of religious life?” among others. The film can be viewed, with discussion and discernment guides, on the website, lightoflovefilm.com.

To find more information or to make a donation toward their “33 Days for Vocations” fundraising campaign visit imaginesisters.org/donate. As it says on their Facebook page, “Because inspiring a young woman to give her life to Christ is priceless.”

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